Quality challenges in e-commerce websites

Total Quality Management has long been an objective of management and in the IT sector this has giving rise to research in areas such as customer relationship management (CRM) and total software quality. These areas of research are frequently interpreted to focus on Web sites and E-Commerce.
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the range of issues that influence effective E-Commerce Web sites through reference to software quality and Web site acquisition and use. Research shows that there are deficiencies in understanding and attitude to Web site usability, so, Section 2 considers some
of the shortcomings in the understanding and practice of usability evaluation especially in the context of the WWW. Section 3 explains academic progress in research that has addressed these shortcomings. The philosophy of this progress is quality focused and it address the competitive advantage perspective of the Web site acquirer and the usability perspective of users. The research also
includes a process for appraising commercial usability methods. Section 4 considers topics for future direction.